History

• The history of using herbs as part of medicine dates back around 3,000 years to the Zhou dynasty. Like many ancient natural health systems, Chinese medicine originated as a shamanistic practice that evolved through experimentation to its modern form.
  
  

The Four Natures

• The four natures, or four xing, are cold, hot, warm and cool. These refer to the effect of the herb on your chi. Cold herbs cool your chi quickly, cool have a more mild effect. Hot warms your chi quickly, with warm having a milder effect.
  
  

The Five Tastes

• The five tastes are pungent, sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Each taste will have a different effect on your body and your chi. A Chinese herbalist will combine the four natures and five tastes to create an effective treatment.
  
  

Chi

• The chi, or the life force in your body, is a complex concept. It is viewed both as an indication of inherent physical problems and, when the chi is out of balance, as the cause. By manipulating your chi with herbal medicine, your chi is used both to diagnose the condition and as part of the cure.
  
  

Herbal Combinations

• Depending on the condition being treated, your herbalist may combine different herbs. In some cases, these herbs are powdered and swallowed with water. You should boil certain other herbs with chicken, in order to combine the active herbal ingredients with the fat in the chicken, thus aiding in absorption into your body.